10 Rain Garden Design Ideas

Rain gardens earn their keep, catching rain water runoff from roofs, driveways and lawns. A well-designed rain garden holds runoff long enough for it to soak into soil, instead of running into storm sewers. It also helps clean rain water runoff by removing up to 90 percent of fertilizer nutrients and up to 80 percent of sediments. Best of all, a rain garden can look gorgeous while effectively handling storm water runoff. This rain garden design features strong summer and fall color, with gold black-eyed Susan, purple Russian sage, purple coneflower and rose-pink 'Autumn Joy’ sedum.

Site rain gardens wherever they fit best in your yard, but try to keep them at least 5 to 10 feet away from your home’s foundation. Ideally, try to locate it in a spot where it will collect rain water runoff from nearby hard surfaces, like the walkways surrounding this corner garden. Rain gardens work in sunny, shady or part-shade spots, like this one. Plants including Japanese blood grass, red-flowered crocosmia, feathery red astilbe and green arrowhead plant adapt readily to the fluctuating moisture of a rain garden and ensure season-long interest.

Consider designing a pair of mirrored rain gardens to flank a central walkway. By the second growing season, these beds will sparkle as lush gardens filled with shrubs, ornamental grasses, sedges, corkscrew rush, perennials and evergreens mature. A stone spillway directs rain water runoff from nearby hard surfaces into the rain garden basin. On the lower side, an overflow spillway and drainage pipe shifts rain water runoff to nearby storm sewer channels when heavy rains fill the rain garden to overflowing. Including an overflow spillway helps ensure water doesn’t backflow to swamp your home’s foundation.

Trade your lawn for a long and lovely rain garden, complete with a bridge to span the water collection basin. This rain garden creates a focal point in the landscape with its footbridge. It’s part of an environmentally friendly front yard that replaces a water-guzzling lawn with eye-catching planting beds. The upper edges of the rain garden feature creeping thyme, which forms a green carpet. Plantings in the basin include ornamental fescue grass, sedge and other regionally-hardy perennials. The bridge elevates the rain garden to a landscape showpiece, tying it to the surrounding setting.